Swinging door installation



y 1956 M. P. DU PLESSIS 2,747,237

swmcmc DOOR INSTALLATION Filed Aug. 31, 1953 INVENTOR. A 14 701v R duPLEssIs '3 TTORNEJR.

e r 2,747,237 1 Patented May 29, 1956 SWINGING DQQR INSTALLATI'QEN Milton P. du Piessis, Berkeley, Calif., assignor to Price Building Specialties Co, San Francisco, Qsiifi, a nership, composed of Longneville H. Price, S12, and Longueville H. Price, Jr.

Application August 31, 1955, Serial No. 377,449

7 Claims. (Cl. zitin} This invention relates to a new and improved swinging door installation.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide a swinging door installation in which the arrangement is such as to eliminate any practical likelihood or danger of an individual having his fingers or hand crushed or severed between the door and jamb during the process of door closing. In this connection many persons have suffered loss of or serious injury to their fingers or hands by having them caught between a door edge and adjacent jamb at the time the door has swung shut. Such types of accidents have been particularly prevalent on board ships where passengers or crew members have had cabin or stateroom doors unexpectedly swing shut on their hands or fingers due to a sudden pitch or roll of the ship. For example, many such accidents have occurred because an individual, upon losing his balance due to ship movement and in an attempt to keep from falling, has unwittingly grasped a door jamb against which a swinging door has then slammed shut. Such accidents have continued to occur even though most of the door installations have been provided with so-called automatic door closers, such as pneumatic or hydraulic door closers, which, when in proper operating order, function to greatly retard the velocity at which the door can swing shut, particularly during its last six inches or so of travel to closed position. However, such door closing mechanisms are subject to deterioration and damage and, therefore, become inoperative to prevent the door from slamming shut.

As above stated, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a door installation which functions to overcome and substantially eliminate all of the possible dangers and shortcomings of more conventional installations and to provide in effect a construction which renders it an almost physical impossibility for an individual to sulfer serious or painful injury by virtue of having his hand or fingers caught between either the hinged or unhinged edge of a door and an adjacent door jamb.

Although the present invention will be described hereinafter with particular reference to a preferred type of ships cabin or stateroom swinging door installation, it is understood that the invention may be as effectively and advantageously utilized in both wood and metal door installations as may be incorporated in residential and commercial buildings.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification and referring to the accompanying drawings in which similar characters of reference represent corresponding parts in each of the several views.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a door installation embodying the invention with certain parts shown broken away;

Figure 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, transverse sectional-view in perspective, showing details of the hinged side of the door and associated jamb; and

Figure 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, transverse see- 2. tional-view, in perspective, showing the details of the unhinged side of the door and its associated jar'nb.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the embodiment of the invention shown is illustrative of a preferred type of swinging door construction that has particular utility as a ships-cabin or stateroom door installation.

In the embodiment shown in the drawings, the ins-taller tion is shown as comprising, generally, a door frame A, an insulated double panel metal door B, a combination hinge and cushion assembly C for the hinged side of the door, and a fire stop and cushion assembly D for the unhinged side of the door, and a door latch and lock assembly indicated generally at E.

The door frame, heretofore indicated generally at A, may comprise prefabricated hollow metal members, including oppositely disposed parallel vertical side jambs 10 and 11, header 12, and sill 13. The side jamb 10 is shown as being generally rectangular in cross-section, but is provided with an inner abutment portion 14 and a hinge -.recess 10a. lamb 11 is constructed substantially identical to .side jamb 10 and is also formed with an inner abutment portion or door stop 16.

1n the preferred embodiment 'of the invention, the width of the door B is made substantially less than the width of the frame opening defined by jambs 1:0 and 11. This permits the door to be hingedly supported to jamb 10 in such manner that both the hinged 'and unhinged vertical door edges 16 and 17 are spaced a substantial distance inwardly from their respectively associated jambs .10 and 11 for reasons that will more fully appear hereinafter. The door edge 16 is hingedly connected to jamb 12 by a piano-type hinge comprising a leaf 18, adapted to be secured to jarnb 10 within the recessed portion 10a thereof, and leaf 19 adapted to be secured to an L-shaped-bracket 2.1 which, 'in turn, is mounted to door edge 16.

More specifically, hinge leaf 18 may be secured to recessed portion 10a of the jamb by means of screws or bolts which may be threadedly projected into .a reinforcing plate 22 provided interiorly of the jamb. Leg 2d of the L-shaped bracket .21 may be similarly secured to door edge 16, which may also be provided with an interiorly disposed reinforcing plate 25 through which securing bolts or screws may be projected. Leg 26 of bracket '24 is also, of course, screwed, bolted, spotwelded, or otherwise secured to hinge leaf 19 Theronter marginal extremities of each of the legs 24 and 26 of bracket 21 are bent re-entrantly and toward one another to define a pair of spaced, oppositely disposed, cushion-strip retaining flanges =27 and .28, respectively. The purpose and function of this arrangement of parts will be described in greater detail hereinafter.

.The length of the leg l is preferably such :as will maintain edge 16 of the door spaced inwardly from janrb it a distance of at least three-quarters of an inch or more. In this connection, it is desirable to maintain a large enough clearance between edge 16 and jamb 19 to accommodate the average or normal sizefinger or thumb of a human-being so that should a person have his fingers disposed between the door edge and jamb when the door closes, it would be a virtual impossibility for his fingers to be crushed between the metal members forming the door edge and jamb. The piano hinge .is disposed at the door opening side of the frame and preferably with leaf 19 disposed co-planar-with the door opening side of the frame. Moreover, the piano hinge is preferably made to extend substantially the full height of the door whereby manual access between door edge 16 and jamb 10 is rendered impossible from the .door opening side of the frame. In short, the piano hinge eliminates entirely any possibility of an individual, located on the door opening side of the frame, having his fingers or hands caught between the hinged side of the door and associated jamb 10.

The vertically disposed cavity or opening defined by jamb 10, hinge leaf 19and door edge 16 is preferably filled with a manually compressible means, such as resilient cushioning material. More specifically, a length of readily deformable cushioning material, such as a hollow strip of molded or extruded rubber or polyvinyl chloride synthetic resin or the like, may be provided to occupy the vertical cavity when the door is in closed position. Figure 2 discloses a length of such cushioning material, indicated generally at 29, supported to and carried by the door. More particularly, the length of material 29 is shown as comprising an integral hollow extruded length of cushioning material generally rectangular in cross-section, and shaped and proportioned to occupy the vertical cavity between the door edge and jamb when the door is closed. The strip 29 may be connected to the door by means of an integrally formed retaining bead 31 which may be forcefully yieldably pressed and maintained in engagement between the spaced retaining flanges 27 and 28 of L-shaped bracket 21. The cushioning strip 29 may also be formed with a nose portion 32 which is adapted to overlie the inside marginal extremities of the door to prevent any possibility of an individual wedging his fingers or hands between the cushioning strip and the door edge.

The cushioning strip 29 functions to fill the unsightly cavity between the door edge 16 and jamb 10, and also provides a member that will readily deform and yield so as to accommodate and prevent injury to the fingers or hand of an individual accidentally caught between the door edge and the jamb when the door closes.

The unhinged vertical edge 17 of the door is, as above mentioned, also spaced a substantial distance inwardly from the adjacent jamb 11, the spacing again being sufficient to prevent the metal defining the door edge and jamb from crushing the fingers or hand of an individual placed between said door edge and jamb. In view of the fact that it is usually desirable to construct doors, and particularly ships doors, to function as a fire barrier in case of such disaster, I provide a metal fire stop member 33 at the door opening side of the door and which projects outwardly from edge 17 toward jamb 11. In this connection, an L-shaped bracket 34, substantially identical in construction to previously described L-shaped bracket 21, may be mounted to door edge 17 by screws or bolts projected through said bracket into reinforcing plate 36 disposed interiorly of the door. The fire stop member 33 may, in turn, also be secured to the bracket 34 by suitable means such as screws, bolts or by spot welding. Bracket 34 is also formed with spaced re-entrant flanges 37 and 38 similar to flanges 27 and 28 of bracket 21. The opening defined by the fire stop, door edge 17 and jamb 11 is preferably filled by an appropriately proportioned strip of cushioning material indicated at 31. Strip 39 may be similar in construction to cushioning strip 29 and formed with a retaining bead 41 which can be yieldably pressed into securing engagement between the spaced flanges 37 and 38 of the bracket. An integrally formed nose strip 42 is also preferably provided to overlie adjacent inside marginal extremities of the door.

The corner edge 43 of strip 39 is proportioned and installed so as to abut against door stop portion 16 of jamb 11 when the door is closed thereby forming a substantially weather-proof and draft-proof seal with respect to the jamb. Moreover, the corner 43 of the strip is also proportioned and installed in such manner as to swing clear of the outside corner 44 of the jamb when the door swings open or shut with a minimum clearance, such as shown in broken lines in Figure 3. More particularly, the corner 43 is arranged to swing past corner 44 of the jamb with a minimum clearance whereby the cushioning material would not permit the door to close should there exist any obstruction, such as an individuals fingers or hands wrapped around the jamb, which would tend to substantially reduce the clearance between the jamb and the cushioning strip to any substantial degree.

The door latch and locking mechanism, heretofore designated generally at B, may be conventional in design and preferably of the type incorporating vertically reciprocablc latch rods 46 extending vertically interiorly of the door for latch engagement with suitable rod keepers (not shown) provided on the upper jamb 12 and sill 13. By utilizing a vertical rod latch mechanism, I am enabled to maintain a continuous unbroken strip of cushioning material, as heretofore designated at 31, along the unhinged vertical edge of the door which would not be possible, for example, in using a horizontally reciprocal door latch engageable with a keeper provided in the side jamb of the door. As above noted, the latch mechanism per se may be more or less conventional in design, and said mechanism does not itself comprise a part of the present invention. it will suifice to remark that the latch mechanism is preferably of a type in which the latch rods 46 may be reciprocally disengaged from their associated keepers through rotation of door handles 47 provided on opposite sides of the door. Moreover, it is also desirable to provide a suitable push button lock mechanism, such as indicated at 48, whereby the door may be locked from the inside against opening from the outside except by use of a key. I also prefer to provide each rod with a suitable spring mechanism, such as indicated at 49, that will operate to normally spring-bias the latch rods to their extended position whereby said rods will automatically engage in their associated keepers upon closing of the door.

As heretofore noted, the present invention has been described with specific reference to a type of door installation considered particularly suitable for cabin and state room doors on board ships. It is understood, however, that the features of the invention can be employed effectively and advantageously in Wood as well as metal door installations for use in residential and commercial buildmgs.

Although the invention has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purpose of clarity of understanding, it is understood that certain changes and modifications may be practiced within the scope of the invention as limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim: I

l. A swinging door construction in combination with a jamb opposite the hinged side of the door and relative to which the door swings open and shut, comprising: means hingedly supporting said door with the unhinged door edge spaced from its adjacent jamb a substantial dis tance; a fire-stop member projecting outwardly from said door edge at the door opening side of said door toward said jamb and parallel to the plane of said door to a point closely adjacent said jamb when the door is closed; said door edge and said fire stop member defining a substantially Lshaped recess; a generally rectangular strip of manually compressible cushioning material dimensioned to fit within and substantially fill said L-shaped recess when said door is in closed position.

2. The construction of claim 1 and wherein said fire stop member and said strip of compressible cushioning material are carried by and extend substantially the full length of said door edge.

3. A swinging door construction in combination with a first jamb to which the first edge of a door is hinged, and a second jamb opposite the first jamb with respect to which the unhinged second edge of the door opens and closes, comprising: a piano hinge disposed. on the door opening side of said door hingedly supporting the first edge of said door to said first jamb with said first edge spaced a substantial distance from said first jamb; said piano hinge extending substantially the full height of the door covering the space between said first door edge and said first jamb to prevent manual access between the door and jamb from the door opening side of said door; manually compressible means carried by said door disposed in the opening defined by said piano hinge, said first jamb, and said first door edge; said piano hinge hingedly supporting said door with its second edge spaced a subtantial distance inwardly from said second jamb; and cushioning means carried by said door disposed between said second edge and said second jamb.

4. The installation of claim 3, and wherein a fire stop member is provided on the door opening side of said door extending outwardly from said second edge toward said second jamb to a point closely adjacent said second jamb defining an L-shaped recess extending along the second edge of said door, said cushioning means comprising cushioning material carried by said second door edge and disposed within and substantially filling said L-shaped recess when the door is in closed position.

5. The installation of claim 3, and wherein said manually compressible means comprises cushioning material carried by said first edge and disposed within and substantially filling the opening between said first door edge and said first jamb when the door is in closed position.

6. A swinging door construction in combination with a first jamb to which the first edge of a door is hinged and a second jamb opposite the first jamb with respect to which the second edge of the door opposite said first edge opens and closes, comprising: a piano hinge disposed adjacent the door opening side of said door hingedly supporting the first edge of said door relative to said first jamb a substantial distance inwardly of said jamb; said piano hinge extending substantially the full length of said first edge to prevent manual access between said first edge and first jamb from the door opening side of said door; cushioning material carried by said first edge disposed within and substantially filling the opening defined by said piano hinge, said first jamb, and said first edge when the door is in closed position; a door stop strip provided on said second jamb extending the length thereof and projecting outwardly therefrom toward the second edge of said door; said piano hinge also supporting said door with its second edge spaced a substantial distance inwardly from said second jamb and said door stop strip; a fire stop member extending the height of said door and projecting outwardly from said second edge at the door opening side thereof toward said second jamb to a point closely adjacent thereto; and cushioning material carried by said second edge extending outwardly toward said jamb and substantially filling the opening defined by said second edge, said fire stop member, said second jamb, and said door stop strip, when said door is in closed position.

7. The combination according to claim 6 and wherein a door latch assembly is provided to secure said door in closed position; said assembly comprising vertically reciprocable door catch members operable to releasably engage the top and bottom jambs only of the door frame in which said door is hingedly supported.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,704,411 Stefien, Jr. Mar. 5, 1929 1,979,490 Robertson Nov. 6, 1934 2,106,322 Hamly Jan. 25, 1938 2,331,340 Mosher Oct. 12, 1943 

